This invention relates to an emergency air supply and signaling system for use by building tenants or guests in the event of fire so as to prevent smoke inhalation and also to signal for rescue. The invention was promoted by the loss of life in recent hotel fires due to guests being overcome by smoke and noxious fumes and an inability to concentrate the rescue effort effectively for lack of some signal as to the location of those trapped.
Heretofore, a device of this type for use by guests during fires has been known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,522 which describes a conduit unit adapted to be built through a building wall for admitting outside air. It uses a push rod operated trap door opening outward from the building wall. The trap door is an upwardly facing and outward extending, hinged door from the lower exterior of the unit. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,522 conduit unit is constructed with an inner chamber set into the wall and into which the air is drawn through a filter by breathing through a face mask connected to the chamber by a flexible tubing. While the concept disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,522 points in the right direction in that it provides a trapped person access to outside air, it still suffers from many difficulties. It requires the entire body of the device to be installed through the structure of the wall in the manner of conduit, which, for reasons of feasibility, is mostly limited to new construction. Even so, such an installation is always a potential source for water leakage because of a significant passageway needed to mount the device breaches the integrity of the wall. Most existing office buildings and the like cannot be adapted to accomodate a hole so large as is required to accept such a device. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,522 device has a large upwardly facing outer door which is difficult to maintain, particularly in high rise buildings. Further, inadequate provision is made in U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,522 for signalling to show the need for rescue. U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,522 proposes a streamer signal but does not disclose how it is to be launched. Moreover, such a streamer will not be visible at night or through smoke. There is, therefore, a need for a new and improved device of the type disclosed.